Tahquitz Peak

Another beautiful day in Southern California, and a great day for a hike! I hadn't been on a strenuous hike in awhile, so off I went to Tahquitz Peak in the San Jacinto Mountains, 2 hours from San Diego. The South Ridge trailhead is at 6480 feet, and the peak is at 8846 feet. Strenuous indeed!

Tahquitz is pronounced "Tah-quish", according to the local Cahuilla ("Ka-wee-ah") Indian tribe. There is a legend of Tahquitz that involves beautiful Indian maidens gone missing, but I won't get into that here.

About a mile and a half up, there is a favorite photo spot called "the keyhole".

From the half-way point, you can see the high country (and how far you still have to go!).

This is a view of the South Ridge with Garner Valley and Thomas Mountain beyond. The hazy mountain range in the distance is Palomar Mountain in San Diego County.

We don't have 14,000 foot peaks like Colorado does, but we have a few 10,000s. This photo was taken from Tahquitz Peak, and from there you can see Marian Mtn, (10,362), Newton Drury Peak (10,160), Mt. San Jacinto (10,804) and Jean Peak (10,670) right in front of San Jacinto. The green area below is Wellman Cienega. Cienega means "swampy place" and you can see Wellman is still green even though we didn't get much rain this year.


The hike took 3 hours up and 2 hours back. I'm sure sore, but I'm glad I had the chance to see the beautiful San Jacinto Moutains again.